At training this week, the media spoke with Head Coach Jason Kreis about the preparations for Orlando City’s upcoming matches and what went right in Sunday’s 1-0 win over New York City FC. While this weekend’s matchup against the New England Revolution has been cancelled to the weather, the Lions won’t be losing any of their focus. According to Midfielder Mataìs Perez Garcia, the players are treating every game like it’s a final.
“I put on my Instagram page that this last game was a final, and the reason why I did that is because us, as a team, we decided that we were gonna play every game as if it was a final,” Garcia said after training. “That was our first game in the new stadium, so to us that’s behind us, and now for this next game we’re gonna play it as if it’s our final as well.”
Kreis noted after last week’s match that the team seemed to be developing a higher mentality, and that players were coming together to play as a unit rather than as individuals. The Lions were obviously eager last week to win their first game in front of their fans in their brand new home, but Kreis insists that the mentality won’t go away.
“I think all of our players this year should be going about this with the mentality that this is an opportunity for us that will go away unless we grasp it,” Kreis said. “That we have a different hunger level this year, to perform every single game and to give back to the fans what they’ve given us the last two years.”
The team won’t slack. They’ve been working hard in the offseason and the preseason, and it showed in their first match. And as they continue to work together, their chemistry and their mentality will only improve. Kreis summarized that mentality in one simple sentence.
“Every game is critically important.”
